E3 2017: Aspyr: Hands on InnerSpace and Observer

15. Jun, 2017

My meeting with Aspyr Media has been one of the most unique I’ve had at an E3 so far. Even as E3 goes, meeting and playing in a bowling alley do not seem all that common. But Aspyr was able to give me hands-on with two of their upcoming games: InnerSpace and >observer_.

The first game I played was InnerSpace. This was a very zen kind of game, with relatively simple gameplay, focused more on the experience than bombastic crazy action. Most of the game is about flying around in an Airframe, exploring the worlds and finding collectibles.

However, InnerSpace‘s worlds are unique because rather than flying around the outside of a planet, the worlds here are inverted. Fly halfway around the world along the surface and you’ll be able to see where you started above you. These inverted worlds are also full of water and ruins and other areas to explore.

Collecting certain items will advance a story which will slowly explain how the world and its demigods came to be. These items also give small upgrades to the player’s airframe and in the demo, I was able to upgrade mine to allow me to dive underwater.

Overall, it was an interesting experience. I got lost a few times, trying to figure out how to advance. However, playing in a loud bowling alley was not entirely conducive to either the zen aspect of the game nor the exploration/discovery. The game is aiming to release this summer where I doubt many people will be playing in a bowling alley.

The other game Aspyr brought for me to play was >observer_. This is a psychological thriller about an Observer. This organization of future detectives is capable of plugging directly into the minds of other people in order to gather evidence and figure out what happened.

The demo I played, which was a very small vertical slice of the game, started in the real world. I was sent to an apartment complex that was on lockdown after a murder and was investigating what happened. After finding a few basic clues, I was lead to a back room where I found a man who was barely alive.

When he couldn’t supply me with any answers, I plugged into his mind which was when the psychological part of the game started. Things got very weird very fast, as I was experiencing the mind of someone on the verge of death.

Everything was unsettling, with strange lapses in reality and the location flashing in and out at times. Eventually, I ended up in a room that where every door leads back to the room and had to solve a small puzzle of sorts to get out.

Since the demo was just a small part, I didn’t get much more insight into the story but what I played was interesting otherwise. Observer seemed like it could be a good game for fans of psychological horror games.